ATTENDANCE AT THE NEW YORK AQUARIUM BY MONTHS, 1923 RECORD OF MONTHLY MEAN TEMPERATURES AND SPECIFIC GRAVITIES OF THE WATER OF NEW YORK THE BATTERY IN 1923* Temperature HARBOR AT Specific Gravity These records respecting conditions affecting the water of the Harbor at the Battery, have been kept for more than twenty years and appear to be the only records of the kind available for the New York region. They have not only furnished information useful to the Aquarium, but have proved of service to both City and Federal engineers. * From daily observations made at the New York Aquarium by Mr. A. H. Clendening. Specific gravity observations made with samples of water brought to 60° Fahrenheit. TOWER ISLAND: GALAPAGOS ARCHIPELAGO Large colonies of Forked-Tailed Gulls bred on the lava rocks in the shelter of thorny cactus. Photograph by John Tee-Van, REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR By WILLIAM BEEBE HARRISON WILLIAMS, Patron and Curator of Oceanography; WILLIAM BEEBE, H. MERRIAM, Chief Hunter; HARRY HOFFMAN, Marine Artist; HE outstanding achievement for the year 1923 was the THarrison Williams Expedition to the Galapagos Archipelago. This stands as the Seventh Expedition of the Department of Tropical Research of the New York Zoological Society. Through the generosity of Mr. Harrison Williams the 250-foot steam yacht Noma was chartered for the purpose, and left New York on March 1st on a cruise of two and a half months under the direction of William Beebe. Less than six thousand minutes were actually spent on the islands themselves, and yet a very remarkable number of specimens were collected, and thorough investigations were carried out. A total distance of nine thousand miles was steamed, and the equator crossed eight times. Twenty-one days were spent among the Galapagos Islands. To the living collections of the New York Zoological Park were added nine mammals, twentyseven birds, and forty-two lizards, notable among which were flightless cormorants, Galapagos penguins and hawks, and giant marine and land iguanas peculiar to the archipelago and never before exhibited alive. For the American Museum there was collected material for two lizard groups, Amblyrhynchus and Conolophus, including vegetation, rocks, shells, photographs and sketches, together with a giant tortoise, eighteen lizards and a family of sea-lions. For study by the Department of Tropical Research of the Zoological Society, there was collected: 90 water colour paintings by Isabel Cooper. 40 oil paintings by Harry Hoffman. 46 pen and ink drawings by Gilbert Broking. 400 photographs and 11,000 feet of motion picture film by John Tee-Van. Many nests and eggs. 150 reptiles. 200 fish. 3,000 insects. 40 jars of specimens. 60 vials and jars of plankton. 200 microscope slides of plankton. 100 specimens of plants. 300 pages of narrative, records, notes and catalogues by Ruth Rose. This material is remarkable both for its rarity, excellent preservation, and for the fact that it was collected within such a short period of time. It is impossible to comment individually on the work of the various members of the party, for there was only one level of effort and achievement, which reached its maximum with the first day in the field, and was sustained without cessation until the expedition ended. Within six months after our return, there were actually published, or nearing completion, the following twenty-two scientific papers by specialists of the various groups enumerated: Heterocera, by Schaus Biological Notes on Heterocera, by Beebe Apterygota, By Folsom Homoptera, by Osborn Mallophaga, by Ewing Diptera, by Johnson Arachnida and Neuroptera, by Banks Formicidae, by Wheeler Triungulids, by Brues Chilopoda, by Chamberlin |